Inching Toward Mobile IM
BY CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS | March 03, 2003
australia.internet.com
As the world's mobile networks plod their way to high-speed, always-on wireless connectivity, mobile instant messaging looms increasingly large as one of the service's potential killer apps. But to get there, carriers need to clear the same hurdle passed in making SMS such an unmitigated victory: interoperability.
Unlike the case with desktop IM, there's good news on that front, with a number of major players signing interoperability deals.
One of the wireless space's largest stakeholders, Ericsson (Quote, Company Info), also said earlier this week that it would begin a testing program to ensure that its mobile IM and presence server is compatible with a number of other firms' mobile instant messaging implementations.
Those partners include Ecrio, magic4, MessageVine and Rukson. Sony (Quote, Company Info), Ericsson's partner in the mobile handset business, as well as Motorola (Quote, Company Info), an Ericsson rival but a partner in the Open Mobile Alliance's Wireless Village industry association, also are participating in the tests. Ericsson said it anticipates adding still more participants to the program, but did not disclose particulars.
The Swedish mobile phone giant, which, with Nokia (Quote, Company Info) and Motorola, is one the prime movers behind the Wireless Village group, which is working to establish a set of specifications for interoperability of mobile IM services.
Compliance with specifications approved by the OMA includes support for instant messaging and presence, across multiple networks, including GSM, GPRS, CDMA2000 and UMTS/WCDMA.
Ericsson said it would bear the costs of running an interoperability-testing environment for its partners to bear to further the momentum of the Wireless Village cause. Helpfully, the testing also will help firm up Ericsson's own OMA-based IM system, which has clients including units of Vodafone, and should ensure that users of its handsets are able to use IM, which could be a differentiator in the handset market.
The Ericsson program comes independently of testing being spearheaded by the OMA. In recent months, the group held interoperability tests for version 1.1 of its Instant Messaging and Presence Services specs -- about 20 carriers, vendors and handset operators demonstrated compliance.
Earlier this week, the association certified France Telecom 's implementation of mobile instant messaging, which is based on Jabber, Inc.'s server. FT's R&D unit implements OMA-compliant instant messaging across multiple channels, including the Web, SMS, WAP, and Windows-based platforms, in connection with the telco's Wanadoo, Freeserve and Voila Web and wireless portals.
"Since its inception, the Open Mobile Alliance has continued to make steady progress towards the goal of delivering specifications that enable end-to-end interoperability," said Openwave's Mark Cataldo, who serves as chairman of the OMA's technical plenary. "While continuing to increase its membership and integrated existing forums, OMA is delivering new specifications and also completing successful interoperability tests."
OMA efforts also have spurred a number of deals.
This month, OMA member MessageVine struck a partnership with SIM-card leader Gemplus to develop support for SIM Toolkit-based instant messaging. The SIM-based client, which uses open SIM browsing standard S@T, will hinge on MessageVine IM and Presence Server. As a result, customers of Gemplus -- which controls about a third of the market in SIM and smartcards -- must also become customers of San Francisco-based MessageVine to use the product.
The pitch to buyers is that SIM-based IM will be easier to deploy than technology that requires next-generation handsets.
"The majority of the target audience for mobile IM does not own a high-end mobile device," said Amit Rahav, vice president of marketing and international operations at MessageVine. "Offering IM over S@T SIM browsing brings the service to all devices in a user-friendly, dynamic format."
Another OMA member, Montreal-based OZ Communications, signed a deal this month with Nokia to contribute to the mobile technology giant's own instant messaging and presence solution for carriers (termed, appropriately enough, the Nokia Presence Solution.) OZ markets communications products including mobile IM, group communications, presence and content sharing to mobile carriers.
"The way Wireless Village is progressing is very interesting," said MessageVine Chief Executive Eli Efrat. Unlike interoperability efforts in other sectors of IM, "Wireless Village is actually moving. It tests interoperability, it works, and people are actually getting themselves ready."
Is Change in the Wind?
Some say the progress being made by OMA members could become the basis for a shake-up in mobile IM, which is currently dominated by the proprietary troika of AIM, Microsoft (Quote, Company Info) and Yahoo! (Quote, Company Info), who have extended their desktop IM clients and network to mobile devices through a string of partnerships.
Indeed, the smaller OMA players are wagering that mobile carriers will move away from the closed world of the big, proprietary IM network troika. (Incidentally, in what might be a classic case of hedging bets, AOL and Microsoft, actually are OMA members and sponsors, respectively).
The thought might be seem optimistic. Yet recent trends in client wins indicate that carriers are indeed interested in dealing with the smaller, private-label IM vendors.
MessageVine, for instance, has a number of agreements in place with mobile carrier customers including T-Mobile and TELUS Mobility -- both of which support the AOL Instant Messenger client.
This, say supporters, suggests that carriers are ready to consider alternatives to AIM, MSN Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger that offer not only interoperability, but also the benefits of private-labeling.
"The carriers are talking to private-label vendors like us because no one can or should own their subscriber," Efrat said. "If I am a subscriber of Sprint, and they and Verizon Wireless both use AIM, what keeps me from leaving and going to Verizon? Nothing. Carriers know that. No one but them should own [their subscribers'] IM and presence."
Christopher Saunders is managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com |
